Whispering in the dark. That’s the only thing he heard tonight. Constant whispering. In his left ear at one moment, and then in his right ear the next. Inside his head these whispers remained. They seemed to penetrate down deep into his bones, and perhaps even his soul.
Captain Izik had been tied to a tree in fear of what he might do. Prince Aric had ordered him secured, but everyone in the army knew that it was really General Arges’ command. At first the anger in Izik burned deep. Why were they punishing him for trying to save the lot of them? Was he the only sane soldier in the group who realized that delving deeper and deeper into the Dark Forest was pure insanity? His suggestion to turn back could be labeled as cowardice perhaps, but it was the right decision. He knew it, and tonight he knew why.
The darkness was enveloping, so dark and heavy that nothing could be seen a foot in front of him. That moment when his eyes would normally adapt to the darkness and shapes would begin to form never seemed to come. It was as if a shroud had covered him, and he was staring through a veil. He was seated on the ground, tied to the tree with only a single guard stationed about twenty feet from him. At least that was the last image he had before his vision left him. Heaviness. Why did he feel as if he was being weighed down with a boulder upon his shoulders, suffering like Atlas? It was because this forest was alive, he presumed, but with what was the lingering question. He was being watched, and not by his fellow soldiers, but by something… unnatural. Every direction he stared he could only see darkness, but in his periphery he could sense something else. He turned his head to try and catch a glimpse, but found nothing. However, being watched wasn’t the worst of it. It was the whispering that tormented him to no end.
After the noise of the army finally settling into the night had dissipated, and the sound of stillness took over, was when he heard the first whisper. It felt as if someone had spoken directly into his left ear. What it said was indistinguishable, perhaps not a language meant for human tongues. There was no point in trying to see something anymore, so he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but that only made it worse. His mind began to race, imagining his worst nightmares come to life. And in the moments when his thoughts seemed to be the most real, the whispering began again. Fading echoes of indistinct murmuring would barrage him at first. But soon after they seemed to consume the whole of him. When would this evening end? He pleaded and prayed to the Creator in his sleep, but the only response he received was absence. It was an absence of help, an absence of faith, and worst of all, an absence of hope. He would not survive the night, he realized. Any attempt to struggle or fight only made the whisperings louder. Resigned to his fate, he willingly threw himself into the void.
But when Izik opened his eyes, he found that the morning had finally come. Soldiers were breaking down camp, packing up supplies, and eager to continue the march through this forest of hell. I made it! Blessed is the Creator who carried me through the night and answered my cries for help! Izik was overcome with joy. He cried out to a soldier nearby.
“Can you believe it? We made it through the night! We’re alive!” but the soldier did not respond. He shouted even louder this time. “SOLDIER! CAN YOU BELIEVE WE’RE STILL ALIVE?” and still no response. Maybe the soldiers had shunned him, believing him a coward. Well, if that’s the way it is, he thought, that’s fine with me. You had to be alive to be purposefully ignored, and that thought comforted him for the moment.
Izik sat and watched as the camp began to move out. He had been waiting for them to finally acknowledge him, even if that acknowledgement lasted a fleeting second as they untied him and retied him to a horse. But as he watched the army begin to leave with haste, his fear of being abandoned in this malevolent place sent him into action.
“Please don’t leave me here!” he shouted. It was at this moment that he realized he was no longer tied to the tree. His arms stretched out in front of him, no rope in sight. Had he been untied earlier and simply unaware? The thought bothered him, but he had no time to linger anymore. He stood up and ran over to join the fleeing army. When he caught up to the closest soldier, he grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. “I can’t wait to get out of this hellhole!” But what he saw only made it clearer that he was never leaving this place.
The soldier’s face began to melt away, shedding away like a snake’s old skin. Underneath, Izik could see a new face beginning to take form. He saw a pair of eyes, a nose, a mouth, and teeth, all moving about in different directions trying to find where they fit, like a jigsaw puzzle. When all the pieces locked into place, he recognized a familiar face—that of his father. Izik stepped back, unsure of what he was seeing. His father unsheathed a sword and began to stalk him down. He tried to run away, but found his feet suddenly stuck in the ground. To his dismay, the ground beneath him had turned into a pit of venomous snakes, writhing around his legs tighter and tighter, cutting off the blood and feeling.
“You always were a coward, son! Even when you were young, you were a coward! His father reached down and grabbed hold of a large snake. It seemed to double in size in his hands. The snake hissed loudly, and struck out at his father. It bit deep into his cheek, pulling away a chunk of skin revealing only darkness underneath.
His father threw the snake at Izik. “Remember the time you got bit as a child? The way you cried all night long, begging for your mommy and daddy to make the pain go away? I knew then and there, that you would amount to nothing. A lowly captain responsible for babysitting the bratty Prince Aric is what you amounted to?”
“Please, Father! That’s not it. I’ve tried to be like you.” The snake had now wrapped around Izik’s face, leaving only one eye and his mouth uncovered.
“I never wanted to disappoint you, Father! You have to know that I tried!” His father moved in closer, his face only inches away from Izik’s.
“You were always a disappointment to me,” he whispered. “I truly have no son.” He raised his sword and drove it into Izik’s heart. Izik cried out in pain, and the whole world began to shift before him, blackness consuming everything. When he awoke, he found himself again tied to a tree.
“Captain Izik! Sounded like you were having a nightmare. It’s morning now, time to move out.” The soldier untied the ropes and Izik rose to his feet. Only a nightmare, he thought as he wiped the sweat off his brow. “Yes, let’s go.” As he walked away, he took in a deep sigh of relief. And that’s when the whispering came back.
Chapter 20